Catholic Charities leader optimistic for the future |
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Written by ANGELA KESSLER, Chronicle Editor
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 00:00 |
TOLEDO—Just a little more than a month into the job, Catholic Charities’ new director has hit the ground running as he tackles some tough challenges, but he remains optimistic and has high hopes for the future of the social service agency.
Rodney Schuster took over the helm of Catholic Charities as the organization learned $40,000 in United Way funding was being eliminated for its Permanent Supportive Housing program. Not long before that announcement, the organization found out a grant was not renewed for its School Attendance Initiative program. As a result, the truancy prevention program was eliminated in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Rodney Schuster (Chronicle file photo)
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While the United Way did restore $20,000 in funding to Charities for Permanent Supportive Housing, Mr. Schuster is still working on getting the balance restored as well. If not, he will seek private funding for the remainder of the shortfall.
“We will do everything we can to get all of the funding because the need is there,” he says.
Reflecting on the recent loss of income, Mr. Schuster said he still sees optimism in the staff and believes the opportunities outweigh the losses. He acknowledges the setbacks, but adds the organization can’t dwell on them, but learn from them and move forward.
More than finding the money to serve people throughout the diocese, Mr. Schuster says, “The biggest challenge is communicating what we do.”
For example, he wonders how many people know that the La Posada shelter in Toledo is consistently filled to capacity, or realize that the Charities office in Fremont serves as the gateway for social services in the area, or that more than 25,000 people were served through the agency last year.
He believes the more the stories of Catholic Charities are publicized, the more people will want to help in its mission. Paraphrasing Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Mr. Schuster said when people know what the organization is doing, they love it and want to help serve it and support it through gifts of money and time.
One of the hallmarks of Catholic Charities’ work is that “we don’t just hand out, we hand up,” Mr. Schuster says. For example, families that are helped through the emergency assistance program are also required to attend money management classes so they can learn to become self-sustaining.
Even with a solid mission that is carried out through its current work, Mr. Schuster also sees plenty of opportunity for improvement. As such, the organization is creating a new strategic plan “to bring focus to what we do.” The goal is to have the plan complete by January.
One goal, he says, is to diversify fundraising efforts, with more emphasis on private fundraising to support programs.
“We don’t want to be dependent on the government and United Way,” he says, adding that such funding often comes with restrictions and may change the mission of the organization to continue to receive funding.
In addition, the strategic planning committee is to study the needs across the diocese, evaluate what’s working well where and duplicate that in other areas, if necessary.
“We don’t want sit here and decide what people need to do, but we want to meet people’s needs,” he says. This process will include taking a close look at the western part of the diocese to see if a Catholic Charities presence needs to be created in or near Lima, Napoleon or Defiance, he says.
In addition, he says, the strategic planning committee is looking at Catholic social teaching and the national Catholic Charities to find any holes in the services already offered in the diocese. At the same time, the committee will study services already provided in communities so it does not duplicate services other agencies provide, and assess whether there are any gaps in service that need to be filled.
“The planning part is great, but the most important part is to implement the plan,” he said. “We can’t say, that’s nice, and then put it on the shelf.”
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 00:00 |
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